Rating: 
Summary: Gigaset
Review: The main reason I bought this phone was for my Mother who has some dexterity problems with her fingers. I was looking for the Voice Dial function which has become very popular with cell phones so she would be able to dial without using her fingers.
This function requires that you use the 5-way toggle pad to get to the feature. If you push too hard on the small, sensitive toggle pad, it is becomes another function. What in the world were they thinking?
Why would even want Voice Dial if you can have programmed speed dials??? BAD DESIGN!!!!
The other issues were all present that others have complained of.
The features of this phone are excellent but function is terrible for this much money.
Rating: 
Summary: Base unit has failed twice
Review: Its been just over a year since I purchased the base and two extra handsets. The base has now failed on me twice. The first time Siemens replaced it (they made me send it back to them before they would send me another one - leaving me without a phone system for 4 weeks). This time (14 months from original purchase and 4 months from replacement) they tell me that the base is no longer under warranty and I'll have to buy a new one.
Rating: 
Summary: What are they smoking?
Review: I've never written a review, but after seeing this rated as 3 stars I couldn't pass it up. This is the IDEAL cordless phone system. Great quality, range, expandability, features. People who complain about battery life need to get real. Go buy a couple NiMH batteries, since another advantage is that these phones don't require some special, obscure battery. I went through three Panasonic, et. al. cordless phones before I finally found this ideal solution. There are times when some features are hard to find on the menu system, but that's such a small thing. For someone who wants the best QUALITY in voice and hardware, this is your phone. No one will ever say 'are you on your cordless?' to you again.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 STARS
Review: The 4215 has the best sound and reception I've ever experienced on a cordless phone. At first I was hearing static (white noise) but after turning the volume down one notch, it was fine. (I am hard of hearing and I had turned the volume all the way up). True the batteries are not the best in the world. I simply solved this by purchasing some NIMH AA batteries. It's been off the charger now for over 3 days and still shows 2/3 charged. I agree that for the price, they should have included better batteries, but the replacements weren't expensive. I love the voice dialing (push one button and speak the name). The handset speakerphone feature is WONDERFUL! I can talk using the speakerphone and continue doing whatever I'm doing. Just lay the phone down close enough to hear it and talk. Oh, someone said you have to listen to the voice messages to delete them. Not true. Simply start the message and press the delete key. You don't even have to put the phone to your ear. Overall, this phone is great......I would have given it 5 stars if better batteries had been included.
Rating:
Summary: great phone - how to understand these reviews
Review: The internet is a great help, but you need to put in so much time and effort to digest the myriads of reviews, info. Got this phone last week - it is amazing! Packed w features, works great - pretty complex but not unduly so. I almost bought the Panasonic but after reading the reviews bought this one. These reviews are a great help. In looking carefully at the reviews, I note that there are generally two types of reactions - pleased like mine or very annoyed because the phone broke. Mine has not (only a week old). If the phone breaks, I am sure that you will be an impassioned critic and write a critical review. But if the phone works well, you will be less passionate if you review at all.
Rating:
Summary: Great on features but Battery life stinks
Review: This phone offers one of the best features on the market. You could select the ring tones, give a name to each extension, have it ring only 1 of the headsets depending on the choice the caller makes, conference call, Volume and distance are decent, size of phone is like a cellular phone, keeps alot of redials. I had returned this product 3 times with static problems and battery life. On the 4th there was no static but standby life on a fully charged battery was only 2 hours with talk time being 15 minutes. Customer support was no help. This phone would have been a 5 stars if the battery life lasted a decent time.
Rating:
Summary: Packed w/features but POOR reception & battery life
Review: Before beginning my review, don't buy this phone if you're not good with gadgets. I'm doing this for those who are just skimming through. Okay, this phone is PACKED w/features. Even a gadget lover like me NEEDED to read through the manual. I don't think there are other phones on the market that offer all the features this phone does. However, along with the clever features came with some SIGNIFICANT problems that completely defeat the purpose of a cordless phone. 1. The reception is HORRIBLE. I have the 4215 base unit and 2 extra 4200 handsets for a 2-bedroom apartment and the reception is still terrible. The base unit is placed in the centrally located living room while the extra handsets are in the bedrooms, and remember your handsets' reception is relative to the base unit, not the charging dock for the handset. Just from the living room to my bedroom (which can't be that far since it's only a modestly sized APT), I already hear mad clicking sounds. It's so bad that you simply would not want to continue your phone conversation until you walk back to the living room where the base unit is. If you have a big house, don't even bother with this phone unless your house has no walls and no electronics in it, or if you're prepared to buy one base unit (4215) per room. 2. Horrible is too nice of a word to describe the phone's battery life. I followed the instructions on how to operate and charge the battery from the manual, so this is not caused by mistakes I made. I can charge the phone all day and after one short call and leaving the phone out of the cradle for maybe an hour or so, the phone will indicate with a LOUD & annoying beep that battery is low and needs charging again. So basically full charge to no charge can be accomplished by a single call and an hour of standby time. And because the beep is so loud when battery is low, there's no way you can talk on that phone or not put it back in the cradle to charge. That beeping sound will literally drive you crazy. You might be thinking that it's an isolated problem with my phone, but no, this battery problem happens with ALL 3 of my handsets, which I bought from 3 different locations at 3 separate times. Other minor problems:
3. The buttons are quirky. They're not consistently responsive. Sometimes you have to press a key more than once for the phone to recognize it. 4. The phone's answering system WILL NOT allow you to delete a message until you've heard part of it, so you can't simply delete a message without listening to it first (the screen already displays the phone # that left the message), which is very annoying especially when you don't want to listen to them and are trying to delete multiple new messages at one time. The answering system is NOT designed for quick operation. In fact, the whole phone is not designed for quick & easy operation. Conclusion: I love this phone for its features, but it lacks fundamental fuctionalities of a cordless phone. A simple 900Mhz Panasonic will work MUCH better, but of course not with nearly as many features. The engineers sacrificed stability and fuctionality for features that aren't entirely necessary. I've heard about this problem from other users of this phone and had a similar problem w/an older Siemens model. But the jam-packed features lured & convinced me to buy this phone and give it a try. Well, obviously I regret making that decision and am writing this review so prospective buyers can avoid making the same mistake. I simply don't understand how other people can give this phone more than 3 stars when it can't even perform the simplest task of letting you talk while walking around the house without having to recharge it constantly. It's either they're gadget lovers who rarely talk on the phone or use it away from its base unit, or they've just bought it and are blinded by the features. I've had this phone ever since it came out and this phone is simply NOT the one to get for [your $$]
Rating:
Summary: Love this phone
Review: I bought this phone set last spring. I am really pleased with this phone. Besides the superb sound quality, it has all the nifty features you only find on cell phones and more. I could write a long list of the features I love and use. Here are the three features I like the most. 1.Accessing the answering machine from any of the handsets. Not like other old phones, which answering machine is either built in or connected to one phone. This one, very handset is the phone and answering machine. 2.Phone directory and speed dial. The two functions used together make the use of cheap long distance phone card a breeze. Program the toll free number and PIN into one speed dial, and use the phone directory to enter the phone number you wish to call. Literally, you only need to press two buttons to make a call, even an overseas call! 3.Programmable ring volume. You can have the phone ring at lower volume, or not ring at all during sleeping time. If your family or friends really need to speak to you, the answering machine will pick it up; then you can answer the call. Ever heard of telemarketers making their "revenge phone calls" - the midnight disturbing phone calls from nowhere, because you don't take what they try to sell to you? With this function, you don't have to hear the phone ringing at all.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe all the bad comments!
Review: I have gone back and forth on whether to get this phone or not, based mostly on the hot or cold reviews it has received (people seem to either hate it or love it). After using it for a while, I am very glad I bought it. I find most of the complaints about it totally unjustified. Here is my response to some of the top complaints: 1. Too complicated to use: Say what? Just because it has 4 or 5 times as many features as any other cordless phone doesn't make it too complicated. The setup menus are very clear and logically organized - and if you don't like the "complicated" features, well then don't use them. For instance, it has the ability to program the ringer to be softer at night (say between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am)...kind of overkill if you ask me, but like I said, if you like it, use it, if not, forget about it. In general it works just like your cell phone, as opposed to most cordless phones which are less "complicated" (you do have a cell phone don't you). 2. Sound quality: This complaint is somewhat justified, and the reason I gave the phone 4 stars instead of 5. When I first set it up, I had a lot of clicking noises, but I had the base unit right next to my 2.4 ghz wireless network router (I figured that would be a problem, but I had to try). I moved the base unit to another room, and no more clicking. That said, the voice quality is not stellar, but I would say it is adequate. I have certainly heard better, especially for a digital phone, though. 3. Battery life: No problems here. I can talk for several hours without problem. I do always return the phone to the cradle afterwards though, so if you don't that might be a problem long term. The batteries are Ni-cad, but they are standard AA size, not a propietary battery. So if you need to replace them, you can buy any old rechareable ni-cad (or better yet nickel metal-hydride) batteries. 4. Call waiting feature is not intuitive: This one cracks me up. The mem button (which is used to access this feature)is located all by itself at the bottom right corner of the phone. It is used to program the one touch dial feature of the phone as well as access call waiting. I assume if you rarely used call waiting, you might forget which button to use, but how is that any differnet than a cell phone (most cell phones use the send key to access call waiting...that's more intuitive?). At least the button is in a good location...if you ask me, it is more intuitive than most phones. I suppose they could have labeled it mem/cw for those who forget how to use their phones... Overall, I am very happy with this phone. It has a list of features that simply blow everything else on the market away. I wish the sound quality were a little better, but I can live with it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Phone System
Review: This phone was purchased last Fall and the entire family is really pleased with it. I had been waiting for years to get a phone system where one could pick up the answering machine messages at any handset and this is the one. It is not the easiest phone to learn how to use, but once you do, it is great. The instruction booklet is large and you will probably need to use it often at first, and we are still accidentally discovering features that this phone has to offer. You can put in a large list of frequently dialed numbers and scroll down to a name for autodial. We recently discovered that you can also go into that mode and merely press the key that is the first letter and it will take you there automatically! The only slight problem that we have had with it is that the delete feature for the answering machine occasionally goes whacky. One easy call to their customer service (easily the best that I've ever run into) and the representative informed me how to fix the problem, by merely unplugging the base station for a minute or so. We started out with 2 extensions but with the great discount that Amazon offered, we ended up getting all 4 sets. This is truly an amazing phone!
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